All the really good American players end up playing in Europe, right? Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra all ended up at Fulham. Freddy Adu may have rejected Benfica for now, but he's bound to end up playing somewhere in Europe before it's over.So why wouldn't Eddie Johnson, the Kansas City Wizards striker who is currently MLS' leading scorer (12 goals), want to play in the Premier League as well? Why would he reject a transfer to Derby County?
I can give you a good reason -- because it's Derby County. It's a very small club that may have won "the most valuable club match in the world" last May, but it won't win much else in the upcoming Premier League season, and it's the odds-on favorite to be the first team relegated back to the Coca-Cola Championship. A talented striker like Johnson isn't going to lift that team out of the relegation zone by himself.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Wizards are 7-5-5 and just a point out of first place in MLS' Eastern Division. Those seven wins may be more than Derby gets in the Premiership all year, and while things like Superliga and the CONCACAF Champions Cup don't seem quite as prestigious as the UEFA Cup, Johnson actually has a much better chance of seeing international competition next year with Kansas City than with Derby.
If Johnson had gotten an offer from Reading, with whom he trained last year, this might be a different story. Reading has a much better shot at Premier League success than Derby, and they may pursue Johnson yet if Kevin Doyle gets hurt again. For now, though, Johnson will remain in MLS, and that league probably couldn't be more thrilled that Derby inadvertently gave their league a little boost in reputation.
